<p>I recently got accepted to the Texas Academy of Math and Science, but I’m not sure if I should go. Apparently, not a lot of great universities accept TAMS credits, and I don’t want to go unless it’s going to really benefit me in the long run.</p>
<p>Does anybody happen to know anything concerning this issue? Which colleges accept all or most of the credits?</p>
<p>Oh, and also, if I go to TAMS, when I’m applying to universities, would I be considered a transfer student or a high school senior applying to college? </p>
<p>Thanks a lot.</p>
<p>Oh, and if anyone out there is currrently a TAMSter, please fill me in on what you know (the benefits, the cons, etc). Greatly appreciated, thanks.</p>
<p>I have a friend whose son just started at Rice and accepted all his transfer credit from TAMS. It’s really going to depend on the schools you apply to. I’ve just been involved in a discuss on TAMS. I know two students who went there from the San Antonio area and did very well-one’s at Rice, one just graduated from UT, is going to UT for grad school in some sort of medical engineering field. However, there were some people who lived in the area or knew faculty that said they heard a lot of the students were just local students using it as a sort of magnet school. And there was some resentment by those local of those who came from else where and were working their butts off for grades. Of course, this is now 3rd or 4th handed news for you but you might want to make sure you visit with students before you decide.</p>
<p>Well, I am a first year TAMS student and I love the program. While there are some negative aspects of coming to TAMS such as the fact that some schools see us as “overqualified”, the experience I have had here so far will certainly impact my future decisions. If you are interested in a career in the physical sciences, this is certainly the place for you.
As per your question, any public school in Texas will transfer all credits accumulated over your two years at TAMS. If your interested in applying to private schools in Texas such as Rice, they will accept at least one year of credit. Schools out of state will accept many credits as well, pretty much about 30-40 credit hours. If you’re interested in Ivy League schools and top tier universities (i.e. Stanford, Harvard, Yale), they will accept credit for your electives and allow you to skip out of introductory classes (i.e. Intro Biology, Chemistry, Physics). I am interested in applying to Ivy League Schools, so I have much insight regarding this topic.
When you are applying to a school that takes selective credits, only the GPA accumulated from those classes will transfer. For schools that take all credits, your overall GPA will transfer as well.
I hope this helped, and I’m looking forward to seeing you guys here next year.</p>
<p>Hi, I’m wondering if any RD applicants have heard anything? Did your application status change online? Today (4/13) was the final notification according to TAMS and my son is waiting to hear.
Thanks!</p>
<p>Hi! I applied regular admission deadline (2/17/12) and just got my acceptance letter. Now i just have to decide whether I really want to go. Is it true that you get to continue sports and recreational activities if I go? I would really miss that from my high school. </p>
<p>And as for my acceptance letter, I did not receive it on Friday, April 13th like it said on the website, but because the U.S mail is sometimes inaccurate I didn’t doubt anything. I got mine today, Saturday April 14th. Hope this helps!</p>
<p>Congratulations!! I know you’re family is very proud of you. Thank you for responding. My son received his letter today also; however, he was waitlisted. He hasn’t given up hope though and is adding some additional items to his file. (I’m feeling sad today but he is fine with it). Regarding sports/recreation - you can continue those activities by joining clubs and purely recreational teams. </p>
<p>What is your deadline for accepting?</p>
<p>I would love to hear from any current TAMsters who were waitlisted - how did you improve your chances? At what point in time were you accepted? Any suggestions?</p>
<p>We have until April 30th to accept the invitation. And then summer orientation will be June 8-9 so, as he improves his file just keep those dates open. I’m sure that now that half of sophmore year has passed, he has things to add on. And tell him not to worry to much, competition among the guys that go their is extremely tough, and he made it this far. Girls have a little easier time with the application process due to the unbalanced ratio of males to females. And thank you for the sports information!!</p>
<p>My daughter was waitlisted for early application. Right now we are still waiting for the result. If you don’t mind, could you please tell us if your son’s status change to “accepted” on TAMS website? We live in Houston area and we have not received the letter yet.</p>
<p>Hi goodbetterbest-my son was waitlisted so there has been no change or additional entries made on the status page. There is only a notation in a red box noting “emailed app receipt” that has been there since early February. And a big green checkmark with aaplication submitted at the top of the page.</p>
<p>Perhaps catdeb96 will check his/her app status page and let you know if it shows accepted.</p>
<p>Best of luck to your daughter! I’m sure she will be a success no matter the outcome.</p>
<p>Catdeb96 - thank you for the reply and kind words. Good luck next year if you do decide to go. I’m not sure what my son’s decision would have been since TAMS doesn’t rank and he wants to go to UT (he’s in the top 8% right now). Congratulations again!</p>
<p>My application status page has not changed, it has looked the same since early February when I submitted my application. There is no notice anywhere on the page that says I’m accepted. Had it not been for the letter, I probably wouldn’t know. If you have not received the letter yet, don’t worry to much. And you can always call the office of admissions at TAMS to see if they can help you.</p>
<p>Good luck to your son/daughter. I hope to see them next year!!</p>
<p>If you don’t mind, can you list you or your kids stats for accepted into TAMS or wait listed for TAMS?</p>
<p>I will list my daughter’s stats first:</p>
<p>wait listed for early admisson.
SAT: 2100, PSAT (10th grade), 218
AP Human Geography (5, 9th grade), AP Psychology (5, 9th grade).
Taking AP Biology and AP World History (10th grade).
School ranking (the school does not rank at this time, but we think she is among the top 3).
10th grade courses with 1st semester’s grades:
Pre-Calculus – 91
AP Biology – 97
Pre-AP Chemistry – 96
AP World History – 86
Spanish II (Pre-AP or called Honor) --94
English II (Pre-AP or called Honor) – 91</p>
<p>Acceptance on Regular Admission
SAT: Reading500/530
Math570/600
Writing-- 560/600, Essay8/12
School Rank: 1/127, Quartile 1, GPA: 4.55/5.00
9th Grade (Final Grades):
Honors World Geography 97%
Honors Biology98%
Honors Geometry 96%
Honors English 97%
French 1A/1B 98%
10th Grade: (First Semester)
Pre-Ap English II 88%
Pre-Ap Chemistry 95%
Pre-Ap Algebra II 95%
AP World History 89%
Extra-Cirriculars
Gateway to Technology (8th grade) 97%
Introduction to Engineering Design (9th grade) 97%
Principles of Engineering (currently) 98%
Athletics100%
(Varisty Level Track and Feild, Cross Country, Soccer, and Basketball)
Positions of Leadership
Engineering Partnership Committee President (Freshman and Somphore year)</p>
<p>Note** Although my SAT scores are below my expectations, TAMS does not just look at academic excellence, but also at involvement in other areas. I believe this was one of the strong aspects of my application</p>
<p>Your extra curriculum is stronger than my daughter’s. I believe that is one of the main reasons. Congratulations. When my daughter sent in e-mail expressing her interest to be in the program last week, the dean of the admission office replied to her stating “you have a great file”. So hopefully his comment is expression of their opinion and she will get accepance letter today or tomorrow. </p>
<p>The admission office mentioned that they will update the website today to reflect the students’ status change. </p>
<p>If the deadline for students’ confirmation to attend is April 30, then I assume after April 30, TAMS may send additional acceptance letters to the students on the waiting list. If you want to move off the waiting list, according to the admission office, you may send in addtional recommendation letters from the teachers, recent report cards, and a letter from the student himself stating his interest in the program. Good luck!</p>
<p>My daughter is among top 3 (if not at the 1st place) out of 500 students. I also heard of other no.1 students (from other high school) applying for TAMS. So even if she gets in, the competition will be brutal, it may not be bad option to stay in the current high school and keep 1st place instead of get in and be the bottom 50%. That’s something we have to consider. </p>
<p>Anyway, thank you for the information and good luck for both of you!</p>
<p>As I mentioned in my prior post, if your son is still interested, you may send in additional material, recommendation letters form additional teachers, and letter from your son himself to emphasize his interest. My daughter was disappointed when she was waitlisted and it took her a while to get the letter ready, because she didn’t know how to express her strong interest.</p>
<p>On the other hand, it may not be bad not geting in TAMS. During preview day, the school did mention some students were accepted into Rice, but not UT Austin (because they were not ranked). Also, when they need to apply to college, the parents will not be able to help them get everything organized, since they will live away from home.</p>
<p>I told my daughter that no matter what the outcome, it is a learning experience. Good luck!</p>